Tampa Bay Buccaneers

2026 Opponent Preview: Baltimore Ravens, Week 14

Baltimore missed the playoffs for just the second time in eight years in 2025 and now has a new head coach because of it, but the roster still boasts two-time MVP Lamar Jackson and ageless power back Derrick Henry

Jun 24, 2026 at 08:00 AM

Senior Writer/Editor

Players and coaches for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are taking a break after wrapping up the team's offseason program last week. The focus in the offseason was on playbook installation and getting all 91 players on the same page so that competition can begin in earnest in training camp, attention soon will turn to the specific challenges the team will face during the 2026 season. As such, with the schedule now laid out, we are taking a closer look at each opponent on the Bucs' schedule, examining what they did last season, which players and coaches have come and gone in the offseason and some as-yet-unanswered questions. Today's focus is on a Baltimore Ravens team with a two-time MVP at quarterback and a new head coach for the first time in almost two decades.

2025 Results

The Ravens finished 8-9 in 2025 and missed the playoffs for just the second time in the last eight years. A five-game winning streak at midseason seemed to get them back into contention after a surprising 1-5 start, but they were only able to win two of their final six games, and a pair of losses to Pittsburgh in that span decided the AFC North winner.

Baltimore's first game of the season, on a Sunday night in Buffalo, proved to be one of the most entertaining contest of the entire NFL schedule in 2025. Derrick Henry, who rushed for 169 yards and two touchdowns, seemed to put the Ravens in command with a 40-25 lead in the fourth quarter. But Josh Allen, who threw for 394 yards, willed the home team back into it with his second rushing touchdown and a scoring pass to Keon Coleman. That put Buffalo in position to drive for the game-winning field goal in the final 90 seconds, leading to a 41-40 final.

Baltimore rebounded in Week Two with a 41-17 drubbing of Cleveland in which Jackson threw four touchdown passes, but the Ravens subsequently lost their next four during a tough stretch in which they faced the Lions, Chiefs, Texans and Rams. Week Three brought another prime-time game, on Monday night against the Lions, and another high-scoring defeat, as the Ravens' run defense allowed 224 yards and four touchdowns in a 38-30 decision. Jackson missed the final two of those four outings with a hamstring injury, and in a 44-10 blowout loss to the visiting Texans in Week Five the defense allowed 417 yards and four touchdown passes by C.J. Stroud.

After a Week Seven bye, Jackson was still not ready to return but the Ravens halted their skid with a 30-16 win over Chicago with Tyler Huntley at the helm of the offense. The schedule eased up a bit at this point and Jackson returned to direct the Ravens to four more consecutive victories. Jackson had another four-touchdown game in a 28-6 win at Miami on a Thursday night, two of them to tight end Mark Andrews, and Henry added 119 rushing yards. The following weekend, both veteran Marlon Humphrey and first-round rookie Malaki Starks picked off J.J. McCarthy in a 27-19 win.

After wins against the struggling Browns and Jets in Weeks 11 and 12, the streak ended with a 32-14 loss to the Bengals followed by the first of those two key matchups with the Steelers, this one in Baltimore. Both quarterback Aaron Rodgers and running back Kenneth Gainwell ran for touchdowns as Pittsburgh built a 20-9 lead in the third quarter and held on for a 27-22 win. The Ravens evened things up with Cincinnati in Week 15 in emphatic fashion, with a 24-0 shutout in which they picked off Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow twice and scored off the second one when Kyle Van Noy handed the ball to safety Alohi Gilman, who returned it 84 yards to the opposite end zone.

After a 28-24 loss to New England, the Ravens faced two road trips to finish the regular season. The first one went well, as they went to Lambeau Field and pummeled the Packers, 41-24 despite Jackson sitting out with a back ailment. The Ravens just let their running game take over, as Henry bulled his way to 216 yards and four touchdowns as part of a 307-yard rushing effort. That win kept the Ravens' division-title hopes alive into Week 18 and Baltimore headed to Pittsburgh for a Sunday night winner-take-all showdown in the final game on the entire NFL regular season schedule. Touchdown catches of 50 and 69 yards by Zay Flowers helped the Ravens take a 24-20 lead late in the fourth quarter, but Aaron Rodgers led a 65-yard drive ending in a 26-yard scoring pass to Calvin Austin with 55 seconds left. Jackson's 26-yard completion to tight end Isaiah Likely on fourth down with seconds remaining put Tyler Loop into position to try a 44-yard field goal. The rookie kicker had missed just three of his first 33 field goals but he pushed one well to the right and the playoff-bound Steelers stormed the field.

A year after throwing for 41 touchdowns and 4,172 yards and just missing out on his third MVP award, Jackson put up just 2,549 yards and 21 touchdown passes in 2025, though he still compiled a 103.8 passer rating. He also ran for 349 yards but that was easily the lowest single-season total of his career. Flowers was his favorite target, one he hit 86 times for 1,211 yards and five touchdowns, and Andrews also hauled in five scores. The Ravens' 16th-ranked offense was imbalanced, at least statistically, as it ranked second in rushing yards but 27th in passing yards. The ageless Henry had another huge year, rushing for 1,595 yards and 16 touchdowns as Baltimore averaged 5.3 yards per carry and scored 23 times on the ground.

Baltimore's defense finished 24th in yards allowed, its lowest ranking in five years, and 18th in points allowed. There was an imbalance on this side of the ball, as well, with the run defense ranking 10th but the pass defense giving up 247.9 yards per game and finishing 30th. An anemic pass rush – not the norm in Baltimore – was a big part of the problem, as the Ravens only managed 30 sacks as a team and finished second-to-last in sacks per pass play. Nose tackle Travis Jones was the team leader with just 5.0 sacks. Safety Kyle Hamilton went to the Pro Bowl for the third year in a row after combining 105 tackles with nine passes defensed and two forced fumbles, and linebacker Roquan Smith joined him at the all-star festivities with 130 tackles, four quarterback hits and three passes defensed. Humphrey led the team with four interceptions but the Ravens notably finished the year with a -11 turnover ratio, fifth worst in the league.

Two days after the conclusion of the season, the Ravens fired Head Coach John Harbaugh, who compiled a 180-113 record in 18 seasons at the helm and had led Baltimore to the playoffs in two-thirds of those seasons.

2026 Arrivals

Sixteen days after dismissing Harbaugh, the Ravens brought back Jesse Minter to be his successor, making him just the fourth head coach in franchise history. Most recently the Chargers' defensive coordinator under Jim Harbaugh, Minter was on John Harbaugh's staff from 2017-20. Minter brought in Declan Doyle, who had spent 2025 as the Bears' offensive coordinator under Ben Johnson, to fill that same role. Anthony Weaver, another former Ravens assistant who was the Dolphins' defensive coordinator the past two seasons, returned to fill that post under Minter.

Baltimore got less-than-ideal play from its interior offensive line in 2025 and that was clearly a top priority this offseason. The Ravens used their first-round draft pick, number 14 overall, to grab the first guard off the board in Penn State's Olaivavega Ioane, a powerful blocker considered a plug-and-play starter fat left guard. The right guard position was addressed by giving former Jet John Simpson a three-year, $30 million deal on the first day of free agency. Between those two, Baltimore will also have a new center after Pro Bowler Tyler Linderbaum left for the Raiders, and there appear to be a couple candidates in free agent pickups Danny Pinter from the Colts and Jovaughn Gwyn from the Falcons. Both got one-year deals. The Ravens added a little more O-Line depth at the end of the draft with Northwestern guard Evan Beernsten

After no wideout other than Flowers caught more than 22 passes last year, the Ravens gave Jackson a pair of interesting new targets in the draft's middle round. Third-rounder Ja'Kobi Lane out of USC, who has a 6-4, 200-pound frame and a long wingspan, is a prototypical "X" receiver with outstanding run-after-catch ability. Fourth-rounder Elijah Sarratt, from the national-champion Indiana program, also has good size and is a chain-mover who wins at the catch point.

Andrews remains at the top of the Baltimore tight end depth chart but the team had to restock the rest of it after three left town in free agency, two following Harbaugh to New York. First, they nabbed former Bear Durham Smythe, an outstanding blocker, on the first day of free agency on a one-year deal. Then, in the draft, fourth and fifth-round picks brought in SMU's Matthew Hibner and Alabama's Josh Cuevas. Hibner appears to have more pass-catching upside but Cuevas is a well-rounded prospect who blocks well.

The only other additions of note on offense were running back Adam Randall, drafted in the fifth round out of Clemson, and veteran quarterback Skylar Thompson, who was just added in May and should be behind both Jackson and Huntley on the depth chart.

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TAMPA, FL - June 17, 2026 - 2026 Mini Camp at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers